A theme of “obedience” runs through the 8th chapter of Acts.
The chapter begins with a great and grievous persecution of the Christians in the region. The Christians were scattered, according to verse 4. The persecution and scattering had the opposite effect of those trying to stop the Christianity movement. Consider verse 4.
Acts 8:4 “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.”
The effect of scattering the Christians was to scatter the Word of God. Christianity flourished even more as a result of the persecution. And in verse 5, we see a certain Christian named Philip (who was one of the deacons — see Acts chapter 6) went to the city of Samaria preaching the name of Jesus Christ. Sometimes God asks us to do things which on the face may seem difficult. Christians were being persecuted and killed. Nevertheless, people were preaching the Gospel. Just in chapter 7 of Acts we see that Stephen was stoned to death for preaching the Gospel. Surely the people preaching the Gospel risked the same fate but they preached nonetheless.
But beware some of the people who profess to preach in the name of God. Verse 9 describes a man named Simon who for a long time had bewitched the people of the region into thinking he was a man of God. The word “bewitched” here is the Greek word existemi, and it means to amaze or astound people. I read this to mean that he was a magician. He claimed to work the wonders of God but did so with the slight of hand. When we pick a church to attend, we have to be extremely careful of where we go. There are many wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
Many churches will astonish you with lively music, special lighting effects, and all other things which appeal to the senses. But many of them are hypocrites, much like Simon. Judge them by their works, not their words or how they entertain you.
Matthew 7:16 “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”
In Acts 8:29 we see where the Holy Spirit compels Philip to go witness to the Ethiopian. We see Philips reaction in the following verse:
Acts 8:30 “And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?”
Philip RAN. Philip didn’t ponder if he should go. He didn’t hesitate. He immediately obeyed the Holy Spirit, and the Ethiopian was saved. Compare this to what Jonah did in the Old Testament. Jonah went the opposite way, and calamity came about.
When God leads us to do a good thing, don’t hesitate, but OBEY. When the Holy Spirit compels you to witness to someone, don’t delay but do it right then. You never know the heart of the person God is telling you to witness to. When God tells you to preach his word, preach it. When we obey God’s commands, He’ll be with us.
To learn more about Acts chapter 8, follow this link.
